Armenia’s drills in occupied territories, provocative moves against Azerbaijan

/AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

There wouldn’t be such a tense situation in the world if every state conscientiously fulfilled its obligations.

Deputy Head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, Chief of the administration’s Foreign Relations Department, Novruz Mammadov made the remark at the international conference.

The international conference on “Achievements and Future Prospects of NGO Cooperation” organized by the Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan was held in Baku on November 19.

Mammadov noted that following the collapse of the bipolar world, the West started to show geopolitical attitude to all the processes by prioritizing its own interests, which led to such a tense situation in the world.

“We can talk a lot about the steps taken against Azerbaijan. For instance, military exercises were held in Azerbaijan’s occupied land five days ago,” he said.

The top official believed that the international community has remained indifferent to this situation. This comes as it attentively follows the events in Ukraine.

Mammadov stressed that Russia held military exercises in 150 kilometers from Ukrainian border a month ago and the West made statements expressing concern about the purposes of these exercises.

“Why there has not been such an attitude with regard to the drills, carried out in the occupied territory of Azerbaijan?” Mammadov said, adding that Azerbaijan banned the flights over these territories in 1994, but no one ever has talked about that.

An Armenian MI-24 helicopter flying 1,700 meters northeast of the Kengerli village of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam region attacked the Azerbaijani army positions on November 12. The helicopter was shot down by the Azerbaijani side. The three crew members on the board of MI-24 helicopter were revealed to be Armenian army's servicemen, who illegally joined the so-called "NKR army."

Mammadov stressed that the military exercises were a provocation against Azerbaijan. “The Armenian military helicopter flew several times over the head of our soldiers in the Aghdam region. They were even able to record them on video."

“Why haven't international NGOs reacted to that? Even today, the incident is presented by the Western media in a distorted form. I say all this because we have gathered here with an aim to cooperate,” Mammadov said.

He also noted that such processes are the main causes of the tense situation in the world.

“Why should the separatist regime or Armenia conduct exercises on the territory of Azerbaijan?” he asked.

Mammadov further said Azerbaijan wants the West to take a fair position on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“Why can’t the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs take successful steps? Because, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs as well have completely forgotten international law,” Mammadov said, adding “They never talk about the four resolutions of the UN Security Council.”

He said the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent districts of the country have been occupied, and hundreds of thousands of people are deprived of their fundamental rights.

“Why don’t the international NGOs talk about this?” Mammadov said.

He went on to say that Azerbaijan will try to solve the problem itself.

“Did you see what happened in Ukraine? If there is no justice in the world, we can't talk about international law. Azerbaijan is very concerned with these issues. If the OSCE Minsk Group’s activity continues in a similar way, perhaps, we will try to solve the problem ourselves. It is our right," Mammadov said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, have been largely fruitless so far.